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Maleos Meeting Darias Session

Two months after death of Darias's father

So, you're at school, Maleos. You've been noticing this older boy (slightly older) who voices a lot of the questions you want to ask in the religion classes. He's a little intimidating 'cause he's older, bigger, and gruff, but you've got some respect for him for speaking up… even though he's going about it all wrong, in your tiny little child mind.

Dale: Okay. When we're not in class, I'll ask some of my friends who he is.

His father was a guardsman. He recently died in an accident. His mother works as a baker and cook out of their home. His sister, a sullen and quiet young girl only about 6 years old, just started attending the school as well.

Dale: When I have time, I'll go introduce myself to him. By with I mean I'll walk up to him and go "Hey, you wanna play?" while he's drawing in the dirt during a midday/lunch break. His little sister is sitting quietly behind him, back far enough that he doesn't yell at her.

Darias: "No thanks." Just glances up, then goes back down to drawing a stone bridge.

Maleos: *pause, because this doesn't usually happen* "Whatcha drawing?"

Darias: "Bridge."

Maleos: *looks at it* "It's pretty good. What bridge is it?"

Darias: "Just a bridge." He doesn't look up. Just keeps drawing.

Maleos: Another moment of awkward silence, then: "Can I help?"

Darias: He gives a curt "no" and goes keeps drawing. His strokes are getting a bit more forceful, and you can hear the straining of his temper in his voice.

Maleos: *backs up* "Okay. Have fun." *continues backing up*

The next day at lunch….

So, it's the next day at lunch, and roughly the same setup. Oh, yeah, I should describe this school area. It's basically at one of the temples, which is in the middle of part of the city. You'd have vendors around. Particularly at lunch. I mean street vendors, people with little trays and wagons of shit they're trying to peddle to the priest and the nearby businesses.

Darias is once again sitting and drawing in the dirt. Maleos sees Aida once again sitting quietly behind him, watching. Maleos is surpised to see her creep up, tap Darias, and kid-whisper "I'm real hungry."

Darias checks his coin pouch… nothing. Maleos sees him wander over to an apple cart while the vendor is talking to someone else. You've seen that look on a few customers… it usually means 'grab and dash'.

Maleos sees a couple of patrolling guardsman coming toward Darias. Thinking quickly, he runs up to the guard shouting "Officer, officer!" But he just asks for directions to someplace that-a-way, necessitating the guard to turn his back to Darias and crew.

Maleos stands with his back to Darias, talking to the guards and occasionally asking for clarification. The guards see Maleos put a coin down on the cart and take one apple. Darias doesn't see anything Maleos does after he becomes aware of the guards. Darias quickly grabs one apple while the guards and vendor are distracted and walks away with Aida.

Maleos jogs over to catch up to Darias after he and Aida go around a corner. He actually looks at you as you approach and grins.

Maleos: "You almost got in big trouble!"

Darias: He pulls out the stolen apple and makes to give it to Aida, then pauses and takes out a makeshift tool he can use to carve it and looks at Maleos and says "wanna share?"

Maleos: Weighing. "Anybody see you take it?"

Darias: He peeks around the corner, then turns back. "Nope," matter-of-factly, still holding the tool and the apple. He gestures with the fruit and widens his eyes, nonverbally asking "well?'

Maleos: "Yeah, I'll take some. But you better be more careful. What if I hadn't been there?"

Maleos notices Aida's face falling slowly as her apple is taken away. to her credit, she doesn't cry or anything.

Darias starts carving about a quarter of the apple off and hands it to Maleos. He gives the rest to Aida. When Darias turns and gives her most of the apple, she brightens back up to "quiet."

Darias: "I'd run away. Those guards are slow. Besides, it's just an apple."

Maleos: "They'd just have to go ask the priests which one of their students is the one drawing in the dirt every day. You're not sneaky enough to get away with it."

Darias: "Sure I am," somewhat indignantly.

Maleos: *fishes whole apple out of his pocket to show off that he can be sneaky, too*

Over the next few days and weeks, Maleos and Darias begin to develop a friendship based on Darias daring Maleos to pull various pranks and thefts and Maleos trying to prove he's sneakier by coming up with more subtle ways of accomplishing the goal. Maleos even starts vetoing some ideas with comments like, "No, that's dumb. Too many people could see us. We should do this instead…"